Peter Gaskell

The Agenda 2000 debate and CAP reform in Great Britain. Is the environment being sidelined

Abstract This paper considers the environmental implications of the CAP reforms proposed in Agenda 2000 . The CAP has been widely criticized for its financial profligacy and the creation of conditions which encourage environmentally damaging farming practices. Although the CAP was reformed in 1992 there has been growing pressure for further radical reform. In Agenda 2000 the European Commission present a set of revised policy objectives for agriculture which build upon the reforms of 1992. Empirical data from a representative sample of 558 British farmers is used to determine the environmental impact of the 1992 reforms and assess potential impact of Agenda 2000 proposals. The survey found that the environmental benefits of the reforms in the arable sector were minimal and that predictions of a move toward more extensive crop production using fewer inputs had not materialized. In the livestock sector dairying continued the pre-reform trend of specialization and intensification while the majority of beef and sheep producers remained unaffected by the introduction of stocking density regulations. It is concluded that the proposals contained within Agenda 2000 are unlikely to result in a more environmentally benign agriculture unless specific environmental goals are articulated and accompanied by appropriate policy mechanissm.

Re-assessing agrarian policy and practice in local environmental management: the case of beef cattle

There are policy pressures to make agriculture more environmentally sustainable and to give a more local expression to agri-environmental priorities. This paper considers these moves, with particular reference to the beef sector, and speculates on the further policy responses required to facilitate benign local agri-environmental management. The UK beef sector is characterized by its complexity and diversity but four major systems can be identified operating at varying levels of intensity. Of these, suckler herds and grass-rearing systems have long been associated with high natural value forms of agricultural land management. Many of the cherished habitats and landscapes of the UK are dependent upon grazing for their ecological and amenity value. However a combination of the BSE crisis, the strength of sterling and the recent Foot & Mouth epidemic threatens the sustainability of these high nature value grazing systems. The importance of grazing to fifty selected Sites of Special Scientific Interest is highlighted in the paper. Survey work identified a wide range of systems to be particularly vulnerable to changes in profitability in the beef sector, including: coastal grazing marsh, wet acidic grassland / marshland, upland moor and heath, calcareous grassland and neutral grassland. To maintain these systems requires agricultural policy to be more sensitive to local conditions than appears currently to be the case. There is little policy support for beef farmers in a regional context, still less giving special prominence to those farming within particular biotopes. Nor has there been sufficient policy encouragement to markets for traditional and local beef breeds. The continuing pressure for CAP reform offers further opportunity for policies to be devolved to regions and localities.

Upland landscapes in Britain and the 1992 CAP reforms

Abstract The impact of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) on the uplands of Great Britain is examined, with particular emphasis on open land characterized by large expanses of rough pasture and heath. Following much concern in the immediate post‐war period about the incomes of hill farmers, the paper outlines how the upland problem has been redefined in recent years as an environmental concern. The evolution of agricultural policy for the uplands is examined. In particular, the paper explores the impact of the 1992 reforms on upland management, drawing on a recent empirical study of the countryside impact of the CAP. It is shown that the environmental problem of overgrazing has not been seriously tackled by CAP reforms with extensification payments, cross‐compliance and agri‐environmental policies all too weak to tackle fully the underlying problem of high densities of sheep in the uplands. The problem is compounded by the decline of the beef sector in the hills. The paper concludes by speculating on th...

Agricultural change and environmentally sensitive areas

Abstract The reform of the Common Agricultural Policy has been primarily directed at reducing the disproportionate share of the European Communitys budget absorbed by the agricultural sector, but it has also permitted the introduction of environmental objectives. This is seen most explicitly in the provision for the establishment of Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) that was introduced by the Community in 1985 and implemented in Britain by the Agriculture Act 1986. By mid-1988 12 such areas had been designated in England and Wales, within which payments are offered to farmers who agree to maintain the traditional farming practices which have given them their distinctive character. This paper considers the relationship of the ESA initiative to other policies designed to protect areas of high landscape or wildlife value and examines the practical problems involved in its implementation in the context of the Pennine Dales ESA. A number of potential weaknesses in the way in which ESA policy is being implemented are identified and it is concluded that its likely contribution to the achievement of both agricultural and environmental objectives remains uncertain.

Landscape conservation policy and traditional farm buildings: a case study of field barns in the Yorkshire Dales national park

Abstract The effectiveness of policies intended to protect the built environment in rural Britain is examined in the context of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a large part of which has also been designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Area. Further protection is given in some areas by a local Barns and Walls Conservation Project. Three survey areas are identified which have been subject to different levels of protection. Within each area the condition of a sample of 100 field barns in 1997 is compared with the results of a baseline survey carried out in 1985. It is shown that, although a high proportion of field barns still retained their traditional appearance, significant changes in their condition had occurred in all the areas by 1997. Few of these changes appeared to be the result of deliberate actions by farmers, which suggests that the various protective measures have not been fully effective in arresting the long‐term process of deterioration and dereliction that is leading to the loss of on...